InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ Forever Dawn ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter Three: Forever Dawn

 

 

A tall white figure casually picked his way down the steep mountain path. The crisp air kissed his face with a gentle breeze and the thick blanket of pine needles yielded softly under his graceful steps. Penetrating through the thick canopy of conifer, the bright morning light dappled the tai youkai, leaving him in neither shade nor sun. Sesshoumaru felt at peace here above the dew covered grass and beneath the peeking azure sky. Traveling through the wilderness was one of the few pleasures he frequently indulged in. It always gave him a sense of freedom that as a youkai lord he rarely had. This place though was not free, but an elaborate trap that had snared him. He felt his anger rising at being manipulated and at his own foolishness for allowing it to happen.

 

His ire quickly dissipated as he watched the clumsy human woman slip on the pine needles again, nearly toppling over in the process. Regaining her balance, she resumed her purposeful walk down the path, her determination boundless even after several hours of wandering through the unending forest. The tai youkai often found himself staring at the strange woman. In all of his dealings with his half-brother, he'd never paid much attention to her, except to note that she wore rather obscene clothing. He thought it was appropriate that a crude hanyou such as Inuyasha would keep such tasteless company. She was however seemingly more complex than his initial assumption and proving quite fascinating.

 

The woman had an unusual quality to her that seemed to be a compromise of both high-born refinement and low-born execution. Her clothing for instance, while the appearance was more appropriate for a fallen woman who has perhaps fallen too far, it was well tailored and the fabric finely made. In reading the renku scroll she proved that she was well educated, yet as his sensitive ears picked up her whispered grumblings about being lost and having a creepy, dangerous youkai staring at her constantly, her choice in lingo was often rough and poorly chosen. This human simply was out of place in the Sengoku Jidai, so where did she come from?

 

Meandering slowly down the winding path, Kagome`s infinite enthusiasm had found its limit. Nothing around her had changed no matter how far she walked; the sun hadn't even risen further into the sky since she emerged from the stairs hours ago. Even the trees were the same and she found herself memorizing the distinct shapes of certain ones and then finding the exact same trees further down the trail. In the distance, she could see the vague outlines of mountains and forests, but they resembled elaborate watercolor paintings more than real landscape. She was definitely still trapped within the realm she was drawn into when she first read the scroll. The only thing that might reveal a clue as to why she was here and how she could get home was perhaps the poem itself.

 

`Ink glides across skin? What does that… mmm, onigiri,' Kagome thought, her brain being hijacked by her stomach's insistent grumblings. She clutched her belly trying to drive out the bento boxes of tasty treats within her mind. How many hours had it been since she had eaten? Without her backpack, all of her emergency rations were gone. She looked around as she walked, hoping to find something that might at least be edible. Nestled beneath the boughs of a fallen tree, the rust colored caps of a clump of mushrooms caught her keen eye. With more energy than she had had for hours, the school girl was swiftly upon them, plucking one from its secure nest.

 

“Do not eat those, human,” Sesshoumaru said placidly as Kagome held the mushroom up to her lips.

 

“Why?” she asked almost plaintively, the mushroom still inches away from her eager mouth.

 

“That is a waraitake mushroom and unless you wish to die laughing, you should not eat it. A dishonorable death such as that however may be appropriate for a pathetic woman like you,” he replied with distaste. Humans knew what was edible in the forests and even Rin knew better than to eat those mushrooms. His conclusions were drawn; this woman was definitely not from the Sengoku Jidai. Regardless, her stomach's protests were beginning to annoy him and it seemed that her knowledge of foraging had proven itself severely lacking. “Come,” he said with a quiet sigh.

 

Kagome dropped the mushroom and warily followed the tai youkai down the narrow trail. Although he appeared to be casually strolling, he moved with such ease over the uneven ground that she found it difficult to keep up with him without losing her footing. After several minutes of scanning the vegetation, Sesshoumaru soon paused at a leafy bush.

 

“Peel the skin off of the younger shoots and eat the inner stalk,” he said, gesturing to the soft green stems at the center of the plant. The thought that they might be poison briefly crossed the school girl's mind as she busily picked the tender stalks and it was easily dismissed. If the tai youkai wanted to kill her, he would use his claws and not resort to something cowardly like deceiving her into eating a poisonous plant. Besides, wouldn't he have just let her eat those mushrooms? Greedily, she stuffed the peeled, crisp stems into her mouth, noting the subtle flavor's vague resemblance to celery. She did wonder as she finished off the last stalk, how much her lack of smell affected the taste. Bland or not, she licked the trickles of escaping juices from her lips.

 

“Thank you,” she said after she secured a few more stems for later. Sesshoumaru looked at her, his mind working behind his eyes and then with a slight nod he continued down the path, walking slower to match her pace.

 

“Where are you from woman?” Sesshoumaru asked after several paces, his curiosity overwhelming his general indifference to her.

 

“Eh?” Kagome replied, a peeled stalk protruding from her mouth, later coming a bit sooner than she had expected.

 

“You are not from the Sengoku Jidai. Your dress, your mannerisms and your accent are foreign to this world. Where are you from?”

 

“Eeto, it's hard to explain,” she said removing the shoot from her mouth, “I'm from a city called Tokyo many years in the future. There's a well in the shrine where I grew up and one day I fell into it and ended up here.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared at her out of the corner of his eye, watching her expression and then nodded. It wasn't quite the explanation he was expecting, but she did not seem to be attempting to trick him. Contrarily, it fit quite well with the conclusions he had drawn about her. Living through five centuries, he had seen the subtle changes in the culture of the humans around him. He half wondered what the future was like where such unusual clothing was commonplace and knowledge of edible plants was so uncommon.

 

“Sesshoumaru?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How are we going to get home?”

 

“The poem is the key,” the tai youkai answered after a pause, “What do you know of renku poetry woman?”

 

“They're poems where a group of people alternately write in different stanzas and link them together with common themes. We did a few of them in class and there's even a renku club on campus.”

 

“Class? Club? Campus?”

 

“Eh…” Kagome murmured with a light, embarrassed chuckle, “Never mind.”

 

“How long are renku poems?” he asked reflectively, dismissing the unusual words as futuristic gibberish.

 

“Thirty-six stanzas?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“So the poem is incomplete?”

 

Sesshoumaru nodded, leaving Kagome to her thoughts. Certain experiences were starting to become clear. For instance, the need to take turns reading the poem on the door. If a renku poem is about exchange, then it made sense that they had to exchange reading it. Kagome opened her battered kanji notebook up, thumbing absently through the pages. She had all, but forgotten most of the poem up until now and silently lamented herself over her lack of preparation. An uneasy feeling ghosted through her when she noticed Sesshoumaru's impassive golden eyes eyeing her inquisitively. Kagome blushed a little bit at his stare. It was one thing for him to be studying her from behind; at least she could pretend he was just randomly looking in her direction. Walking next to her and doing it was a little more than she was willing to handle.

 

`What is he looking at,' she thought, her embarrassment growing, `Do I have food on my face?' She felt around her mouth with her fingers, finding nothing errant. `Is he looking at my chest?' she thought next, trying to follow his line of sight, `He IS looking at my chest.' Kagome's cheeks flushed hot under his steady watch. She was used to Miroku doing it unabashedly and Inuyasha's equally blatant staring, although it always seemed more like a lack of manners from him than the monk's complete lecherousness. Now someone who was essentially a nobleman was doing it just as rudely as those two. Didn't men from the past know how to be inconspicuous when it comes to ogling?

 

After a moment, Sesshoumaru looked away, his sight settling on the trail ahead. Kagome sighed in relief and went back to her notes, trying to brush up a bit on her kanji knowledge. At least if there was anymore of the poem to read, she'd be prepared for it. Much to her consternation, she felt the tai youkai's intense stare upon her once again. Exasperated, she looked back at him, her glare focused on his wayward eyes. Her expression softened as she realized that he wasn't actually staring, but the amber orbs of his eyes were moving quickly up and down. Puzzled, she looked back down at her notebook and then up at the tall youkai lord. He was reading her kanji notes.

 

“Here,” she said holding the book up to him.

 

“This Sesshoumaru has no need for your charity.”

 

“It's not charity,” Kagome replied, trying to find the right words, “It's gratitude for helping me find food.” After mulling her words over in his mind, the tai youkai reluctantly, but gently plucked the book from her hand. Nimbly holding the notebook in his palm, he delicately turned the pages with his clawed thumb. In the reversal of roles, Kagome now found herself staring at him. She hadn't even thought about the fact that he only had one arm and how hard it would have been to read the book. Her obliviousness for once served her well, since the prideful youkai lord undoubtedly would have been angered if he suspected her pitying him over his handicap.

 

They walked in silence as Sesshoumaru skimmed through the notes. Kagome felt a great swelling of pride over sharing her notes with the tai youkai. The handwriting was not elegant, but at the very least it was legible. More importantly, it felt good to know that her studying and schoolwork from the future was actually useful and acknowledged in the past. No one except Miroku on occasion ever took any interest in her studies and she half thought he did only to try and sneak a grope in when she wasn't paying attention. Mostly they seemed to think that it was a waste of time, after all calculus and economics doesn't really help kill youkai or save villages from bandits.

 

“Sesshoumaru?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You said the poem was the key. What does the poem mean?”

 

“Ink glides across skin. Shifting symbols part a way. Darkness swallows two,” he remarked quietly, his mind still absorbed in the notebook, “What does that mean to you?”

 

“Ink on skin, might mean the scroll and the symbols are the letters,” Kagome said, thinking back, “Darkness swallowing two. It was like being overcome by darkness when I was being transported here, so the last line means two people being taken away?”

 

“Yes. Black water breaks upon wood. Shells sing shelter within wind,” he said next. Images of the dark ocean and the solitary building standing against the ceaseless waves filled Kagome's mind.

 

“The building we were in stood on wooden pillars above the ocean and had wind-chimes hanging from its eaves.”

 

“Hidden from the sky. Brave through storm the sun and moon. Seeking the before,” Sesshoumaru said, his eyes still firmly following the pages of her notes, “What room did you wake in?”

 

“A room filled with imagery of the sun and of the goddess Amaterasu. What room did you arrive in?”

 

“The room with the moon and of the god Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto.”

 

“The god of the moon,” Kagome said, her brow furrowed, “So are we the sun and the moon?”

 

“Perhaps.”

 

“We are seeking to return home. So, I guess it makes sense.”

 

“Distant tales seven there are. Battle cries and wishes scorned.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“The murals on the walls of the large chamber depicted stories,” Sesshoumaru said at length, silently remarking on how much more this human woman liked to ask questions than Rin.

 

“Is that all?” the school girl said, feeling foolish for not remembering it before asking him about it.

 

“I do not know.”

 

“There must be something more to it than that,” Kagome replied, tapping her lips with her finger, trying to think, “What's the last stanza.”

 

“The bear challenges. Boy of golden will and strength. Trees hold victory,” Sesshoumaru said, irritation rising in his voice. He did not appreciate her tone and her decision to use him instead of her own memory when it suited her, “Human memories are more deficient than this Sesshoumaru was aware of.”

 

“Eh,” Kagome said, smiling uncomfortably, “I'm sorry.” Bears and golden boys seemed familiar though. Wasn't there a story about a golden boy with great strength and woodland friends, namely a bear? What was his name? “Oh,” she exclaimed, “His name was--!”

 

“Kintaro!” a gruff voice called out ahead of them. Sesshoumaru and Kagome stopped in their tracks, staring at the massive bear a few feet ahead of them. Pacing, the shaggy, brown beast watched them with its dark eyes and a grin spread across its muzzle. “Kintaro, where have you been?”

 

“Kintaro?” Sesshoumaru replied, dropping the book on the ground and retrieving the Tokujin from his obi.

 

“Yes, you, Kintaro. How long did you think you could hide from me?” the bear growled. Sesshoumaru and Kagome looked at each other quizzically.

 

“There is no one here by that name.”

 

“Enough of your tricks, boy,” the bear said with finality and uttered a great bellow as it began to charge forward. The tai youkai swept his sword forward, unleashing a fiery blast at the ferocious animal. The explosion ripped through the air at the creature, consuming it in a surge of fire and electricity. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief at the torrent, for once she felt happy at the sight of Tokujin's fire. Through the swirling flame, the bear leapt, the sparks glinting on its eyes and its tooth-filled maw agape. Screaming, the school girl turned away as the beast swatted aside the Tokujin as it landed on Sesshoumaru.